Skip to content

prétendre

to claim, to assert

verb preh-TAHN-druh Less Common
Communication Speech

Origin: Latin praetendere (to stretch forward, to put forward as a pretext)

Also means

to intend, to aspire

Usage Note

prétendre is a false friend: it does NOT mean 'to pretend' (which is faire semblant). It means 'to claim something is true' or 'to aspire to something'. Il prétend être médecin means 'he claims to be a doctor'. The adjective prétendu means 'so-called' or 'alleged'.

Examples

"Elle prétend ne rien savoir."

Natural Translation

She claims to know nothing.

Literal Translation

She claims to-not anything know

Free starter pack

Building your French vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common French words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore French by topic